My Father was rear ended by another car. They are at fault

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My Father was rear ended by another car. They are at fault and we only have liabilty on our insurance and was hoping the person at fault would pay for damages with their insurance policy. They also have the same insurance we do (Progressive). Now progressive is saying the other party dont have enough insurance or there policy does not cover us and we have to sue them in small claims court. This does no make sense. Please help....

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This is an "underinsured motorist," and we all pay for them through our insurancepremiums.

The fact that the other motorist has the same insurance carrier as you do does NOT mean that they carry the same coverage as you do. Each policy is written differently for each individual. Since Progressive is the insurance carrier for both your father and the other motorist, Progressive is the only carrier with any liability here and they may be "ducking" the payment to you. It's been done before.

Since the insurance has refused payment, your father can, and should, file suit SOON in the appropriate court (check the jurisdictional limits in the state where the other motorist is from, since that's where you'll have to bring suit; in New York, where I'm admitted, small claims can handle up to, I think, $15,000). You should name not only the other motorist but also Progressive, as their carrier, as defendants. This will give you a small amount of discovery and you can learn exactly what the other motorist's insurance policy says. Without knowing what that policy is, though, I can't give you a much better answer than this. Sorry....

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The policy covers the automobile. As long as the driver of the automobile had the permission of the owner (and policy owner, who is usually the same person), there is usually no real issue because of that. But the owner of the car should check the policy to be sure. It's when a car thief gets into an accident that things get interesting with the insurance folk.

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